


Castle on a Cloud

by CaptainStarSong



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Human Experimentation, Hurt Peter Parker, Hydra (Marvel), Iron Dad Big Bang Challenge, Kid Peter Parker, Minor Character Death, Non-Explicit Child Experimentation, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Child Abuse, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Post-Iron Man 2, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2019-11-13 13:14:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18032402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainStarSong/pseuds/CaptainStarSong
Summary: “How the Hell am I supposed to help some kid when half the time my own life is crashing and burning,” Tony asked, incredulous that Fury was thinking that he could possibly take care of some little boy that he didn’t even know. There was a reason why Tony’s life was practically always falling a part, why the closest people around him either died or left him. It wouldn’t be fair to bring some kid into the mix of his crazy life, especially after Afghanistan.Fury took a deep breath as looked at Tony with a hint of pity. “Because, Tony, his name is Peter and he’s your son.”Or in which SHIELD finds a young and hurt Peter after raiding a HYDRA base, and Tony must learn how to become the father Peter needs.





	1. Breaking the Cycle of Shame

**Author's Note:**

> So here's my entry for the 2019 Iron Dad Big Bang Challenge! I'm so beyond excited to share this piece!!! It's been a labor of love that has caused great stress at times, but I would like to say it's been worth it, and hopefully you will all enjoy it. I'd like to give a big thank you to Parkrstark for modding the challenge and organizing everything, along with everyone participating in the challenge. You guys have made me laugh way too many times in the Discord server, and have inspired me greatly. 
> 
> I'd also like to thank artist eve-valution, who I was paired up with for the challenge! She made an incredible piece to go along with this story, which I will add to this story once we reach that chapter. Her main tumblr is eve-valution, so check out her other works because she did an amazing job with the piece for this story!!! If you want to look at it ahead of time you can find it on my Tumblr (same username as the one here on AO3)! And if you guys have the chance, please do check out the other works created for this challenge! I'm adding my piece within the created collection (Irondad Big Bang 2019), so check out the collection as a whole.
> 
> Anyways, let me know if you enjoy this fic! I will be updating weekly, and there will be ten chapter in total. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

“Sorry to interrupt sir, but Nick Fury is currently at the door. Should I let him in?” JARVIS’s calm voice echoed throughout the lab that Tony was working in.

 

Without even looking up from where he was drawing up schematics for a new suit Tony rolled his eyes. “What else could the pirate want with me at this point?”

 

JARVIS was silent for a moment before responding, “He says the matter is rather urgent, and that he needs to speak to you face to face.”  


“Isn’t it always urgent?” Tony sighed, but nonetheless put down the StarkPad he was holding and began to make his way to the lab doors. “Alright J, let him into the main foyer and tell him I’ll be up in a minute.”

 

“Of course, sir,” JARVIS said as Tony changed into a cleaner shirt. He walked up the stairs and into the foyer where he saw Fury sitting on one of the chairs.

 

“Missed me already, Jack Ryan?” Tony couldn’t help but snark as he leaned against a wall. “Or you here to tell me again how bad of a team player I am.”

 

For once Fury didn’t rise to the bait. Instead he looked weary and just stared at Tony. The billionaire couldn’t help but tense slightly. Whatever Fury was here for was obviously not just a quick social greeting.

 

“Save it Stark,” The man began. He looked around before glancing back at Tony. “Is it just us here?”

 

“Yes,” Tony admitted, cocking his head as he stared at the older man. “What’s up, you look like you’re here to tell me the world is ending soon.”

 

Fury chuckled mirthlessly as he got up to stare out of a nearby window. “Oh trust me, it just might be. But that’s actually not why I’m here.” He turned around to peer at Tony with a sharp gaze. “What I’m about to say might either ruin your life or enhance it. Whatever the case, it will definitely change your life.”

 

“Can you stop being cryptic for once in your life,” Tony snapped, patience wearing thin. He could already feel his heart begin to race as he waited for whatever news the man needed to say.

 

Fury exhaled sharply through his nose before turning back to stare out the window. “About a  month ago,” He started in a grave voice, “SHIELD got word of a nearby HYDRA base. We survilanced them for about a week before deciding it was viable to just raid the base with a small squad of agents. They were easy to take out, and so we began to look through their files and base for any information on other HYDRA sects. We were expecting to find many different things, all bad of course, hidden away in their base.  What we did not expect to find was a little boy shackled in one of their cells. He had been beaten, tortured, and experimented on for at least a month.”  


“Jesus,” Tony muttered, beginning to pace the room. Memories of his own time in captivity were beginning to come back, and he could practically feel the phantom pain of the car battery again. He didn’t want to imagine a poor kid going through that. “How young we talking here?”  


“Nine years old, ten next month,” Fury answered as he watched Tony pace the room.

 

“How could anyone do that to a kid,” Tony wondered out loud in anger, eyes blazing as he met Fury’s eye.

 

All Fury did was shrug tiredly. “In my line of work people don’t care about hurting kids. HYDRA wanted information, and they were getting it regardless if they had to torture this boy.”

 

“Not to be rude,” Tony interrupted as tried to take calming breaths. His right hand was beginning to tremble from the stress again and he didn’t want Fury to see an ounce of weakness from him. “But why are you telling me this? Didn’t you already tell me you didn’t just want me working too closely with SHIELD? Just a consultant, remember?”

 

Fury clasped his hands behind his back as he pinned Tony with an unreadable expression on his face. “I believe you can help this kid.”

 

“Come again?” Tony raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the man.

 

Fury rolled his good eye as he too took a seat. “I said I believe you can help this kid.”

 

Tony gazed at Fury a moment longer before scoffing at the man. “This really isn’t the time to be joking around, Fury.”  


The spy held up his hands as he leaned back against his chair. “I never play around, Stark. I truly believe that you can help this child. Moreover, I believe you are one of the only ones that can take care of this child.”

 

“How the Hell am I supposed to help some kid when half the time my own life is crashing and burning,” Tony asked, incredulous that Fury was thinking that he could possibly take care of some little boy that he didn’t even know. There was a reason why Tony’s life was practically always falling a part, why the closest people around him either died or left him. It wouldn’t be fair to bring some kid into the mix of his crazy life, especially after Afghanistan.

 

Fury took a deep breath as looked at Tony with a hint of pity. “Because, Tony, his name is Peter and he’s your son.”

 

“... Excuse me,” Tony hoarsely said, stomach flip flopping as his ears rang. He didn’t even attempt to stop his hand from trembling as he absorbed Fury’s words, clear shock on his face. “That’s not- there’s no way-”

 

“It’s true, Stark,” Fury stated as he picked up his phone. He played around with it for a moment before handing it over to Tony. The billionaire saw that the screen had picture of a little boy who looked much younger than ten. The boy had giant doe-brown eyes, curly brown hair, and a bright smile. Tony noticed with a start that he looked very much similar to how Tony looked at that age.

 

“His name is Peter Benjamin Parker,” Fury repeated, watching closely as Tony continued to stare down at the screen. “Born August 10, 2001, mother’s name was Mary Fitzgerald Parker.”

 

“Mary Fitzgerald?” Tony echoed weakly. “I had a fling with her around January of 2001.”  


“Then the timeline seems to match up from my understanding,” Fury said with a tip of his head. “Peter was born seven months premature. Mary was on break from her longtime fiancee when she potentially met you. We’re not sure if she or her husband Richard Parker knew you were the father of the child. Whatever the case, Richard was written down as the father on the birth certificate.”  


“Then how do you know he’s mine,” Tony wondered, finally looking up from the picture of the boy (his _son?!_ ).

 

“We ran a blood test on him,” Fury informed him. “Some agents of mine had interrogated HYDRA scientists found on site who revealed that they had mutated Peter’s DNA. We ran a blood test to look over the mutation and to see if there were any… adverse effects. We also ran his DNA to find the identity of any remaining family. That’s when the DNA came back positive that he was your son. A 99.9% probability.”

 

“Could the result have been a fluke?” Tony asked, almost pleading with the man across from him.

 

Fury shook his head slowly. “We ran the test five times to be sure. Peter is your son.”

 

Tony lifted a trembling hand to cover his mouth. Screwing his eyes shut he turned away from Fury. _This can’t be happening_ , his mind screamed at him. _But it is_ , another calmer voice answered. _You have a son you didn’t know about. You have a son that was tortured and experimented on. You have a son that you abandoned, you’re no better than Howard_.

 

Tony squeezed his eyes tighter in order to hold back the tears that were building up. All his life he knew that he never wanted children, didn’t want to risk being the type of father that Howard had been. And yet here he was, being told that not only did he have a son, but that something horrible had happened to the boy while Tony was none the wiser.

 

“What about Mary?” Tony whispered. “And her husband?”  


“It seems that they were both killed by HYDRA when Peter was around two years old. Both she and Richard were up and coming scientists in the genetics field, and whatever they were studying had caught the eye of some HYDRA affiliates. Peter lived with Richard’s brother and sister-in-law after his mother and step-father’s deaths, but it seems that about two months ago HYDRA decided that they needed Peter to continue studying whatever Mary and Richard had been working on.

“We’re still looking into it, but from what Peter was able to tell us HYDRA agents attacked his home, killing his aunt and uncle while Peter watched before taking him to their base. They then proceeded to experiment on him until we intervened.”  


Fury’s voice was calm and even as he intoned the information. Tony wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh at how calm the man could sound when talking about the torture of an innocent child or cry because holy crap, this was apparently his kid.

 

“Why did they need Peter,” Tony finally settled on asking.

 

Fury pursed his lips. “Again, still not completely sure on why. Our guess is that Richard and Mary had potentially used Mary’s DNA as an example to study the effects of genetically altering DNA. HYDRA believed that their study held the key to one day finding a way to replicate the super soldier serum used on Steve Rogers in 1942. HYDRA scientists may have felt that the only way to finish the study was to use someone who had Mary’s DNA, in this case being Peter.”

 

“You said that Peter’s DNA had been altered,” Tony began slowly, almost reluctantly. “What do you mean exactly?’

 

“After checking the boy over and interrogating HYDRA’s scientists, we’ve come to the conclusion that he has an enhanced metabolism, healing capabilities, super strength, and… Spider-like abilities.”  


Tony blinked at the man. “Spider-like abilities?”

 

Fury grimaced slightly. “We’re still not too sure about that last bit, but I’ve seen the kid stick to the ceiling with ease. He also has enhanced hearing and sight, superhuman speed, and has a sixth-like sense that is able to detect danger.”

 

“Jesus, what the Hell did they do to the kid,” Tony questioned, horrified at what he was hearing.

 

“Too much, Tony,” Fury glowered at the window. “That poor boy has been to Hell and back, and he’s still suffering.”

 

The two men were silent as they processed everything that was said. Finally, Tony had to break the silence. “You said you think I can help the kid. My kid, I guess. What exactly do you think I can do?”

 

Fury cocked his head as he turned back to Tony. “I’m not going to lie to your, Stark, my colleagues suggested on not telling you. You obviously never knew about this boy, and we could have kept it like that. However, that’s not fair to either you or Peter.

“Peter’s a traumatized child- he can’t sleep, and won’t allow anyone in a lab coat to approach him without crying. He has been able to talk to a therapist, but she hasn’t made much progress with him. What we have found out, however, is that he was and is still a big fan of Iron Man. One of our nurses brought him a toy repulsor and mask that belonged to him, and he’s constantly replaying Iron Man footage.”

 

“So what, you want me to meet him as Iron Man?”

 

Fury rolled his eye once again. “No, I want you to meet him as Tony Stark.”

 

“Does he even know I’m his dad,” Tony mused, trying not to stutter at the word _dad_.

 

Fury shook his head. “No, that’s up to your judgement to tell him.”  


“I haven’t even agreed to meet him,” Tony protested but both he and Fury knew that he was lying. The moment that Fury had revealed Tony’s relationship to Peter the mechanic had already decided he had to meet this kid.

 

“Look, Stark, not only is Peter a fan of Iron Man, but he’s as big a fan of Tony Stark, genius extraordinaire. Peter’s smart, possibly genius level smart, though he is currently very traumatized. We could keep him at a SHIELD compound indefinitely, but his therapist says it wouldn’t be best for Peter. The boy needs a safe, stable environment in order to deal with his trauma. He has no other family, and we can’t exactly just put him in foster care thanks to his abilities. You’re all he has, even if he might not know it yet.”

 

Tony gave a shaky breath as he realized that Fury was right. While he might not exactly have a _stable_ environment, he could keep the kid safe. In fact, he could already feel himself growing protective of the little boy and he hadn’t even met him yet.

 

But moreover, Tony had always promised himself that he would never be the father that Howard Stark had been. _I’d want to break the cycle of shame_ , he had once told Rhodey while drunk in college. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he knew that he had a son out there that he just abandoned like nothing.

 

Decision made, Tony lifted his chin definitely to stare directly into Fury’s good eye. “When’s the soonest I can meet him.”  


For once Fury gave Tony a genuine smile as he regarded the man. “If you’re up for it we could go right now.”

 

Tony nodded his head firmly, standing up from his chair. “Let me put on some nicer clothes and we can head out.”

 

“I’ll wait here,” Fury offered, taking a seat once again. As Tony began to go up the stairs to his room Fury’s voice stopped him. “I hope you know that there’s no backing out of this once you go through with it, Tony.”

 

Tony shot him what he hoped was a confident-looking smile. “I know. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

 

As Tony entered his room he blew out a quick, trembling breath. _I really hope I know what I’m doing, please let this be the right decision_.


	2. To Be There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony finds out more about what Peter has been through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you a million times for all the wonderful comments left in the last chapter! They made me smile after a rough morning of classes. Also thanks to everyone who gave a kudos or bookmarked this story! They equally make me happy to know that people are actually enjoying my little story! 
> 
> There's still no Peter in this chapter, but we do get more background on what's been done to him. While nothing explicitly is done to him in this chapter, please note that Tony does read his file, and so we do find out about past abuse/experimentation done on Peter. Please heed the warnings if you are easily triggered by abuse of a child!
> 
> As always I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!!!

“Where exactly are we going?” Tony asked from the passenger seat, pulling off his sunglasses to raise an eyebrow at Fury. “I thought SHIELD headquarters were in DC, not the middle of nowhere.”

 

“We figured that out headquarters wasn't exactly a child friendly location, especially for a recently traumatized child.” Fury responded evenly. “On top of that, the HYDRA base that the kid was being held in was found nearby from here. It didn’t make sense to transport him all the way to the East Coast with how hurt he was. Instead, we decided to keep him at a smaller safe house that SHIELD has for Wit-Sec purposes.”

 

“Fair enough,” Tony allowed, taking out a tablet to finally look through Peter’s file. Before they had left his Malibu mansion Fury had sent Tony Peter’s personal file to his StarkPad. The file was put together by a SHIELD agent and was supposed to give details on Peter’s known childhood and portions of what HYDRA had done to him.

 

For a good amount of the car ride Tony had steadfast ignored the file. On one hand he did want to know more about his son (and wow, he still wasn’t used to saying that), but on the other hand he didn’t know if he could mentally take reading about how his previously unknown son was tortured before he even reached his tenth birthday.

 

In the end logic won over sentiment; if Tony was meeting his kid for the first time he needed to at least have some background on Peter.

 

The beginning of the record was straight forward: It listed Peter’s date of birth (8/10/01), primary location of residence (Forest Hills in Queens, New York City, Tony noted with interest- it seemed that Peter was a city boy), and physical descriptions.

 

Tony’s breath caught in his throat when he saw that there was another picture of Peter after the second page of the file. In this new picture Peter looked even younger than in the picture Fury had shoved at him in his house. The kid here looked like he was probably around five or six years of age in the picture, with wild curly hair and a shy smile on his face. He was dressed nicely, and Tony guessed that it was a school picture.

 

Tony tried to ignore how his heart was clenching in some sort of foreign emotion (Tony refused to call it parental affection- he hadn’t even met the kid yet!) as his eyes soaked in every detail of his son’s little face. While there were parts of his face that strongly resembled Mary’s face (or at least what Tony remembered of Mary’s face), there was also a quite staggering amount of features that resembled Tony’s. The billionaire couldn’t stop the warm feeling spreading through his chest when he realized that the boy had the same shade of brown eyes that Tony had, and a similar looking chin. The kid was a tad paler than Tony, and his hair looked as if it curled much more than Tony’s own hair, but there was enough of a resemblance that the kid almost looked like what Tony did at that age.

 

Blinking away the heat that was growing behind his eyes (he would not cry- Stark men were made of iron, as his dad used to say, and they did not cry), he compelled himself to turn the page and continue reading.

 

The next section went into great detail of what exactly the HYDRA scientists had done on the little boy. The more and more Tony read the more he wanted to scream in anger and sorrow as he was forced to confront the reality that those sick assholes had actually tortured and experimented on his young child. Words like _starvation_ , _surgery_ , _minimal anesthetics_ , _beatings_ , and other terrible phrases assaulted Tony’s eyes, but the genius forced himself to read on. While the file was far from complete, there was enough information for Tony to guess at least a fraction of what Peter had had to endure.

 

Whoever compiled this file together had attempted to make some sort of timeline of events. It seemed that for the first few days that HYDRA had Peter in their grasp they had just tested his natural abilities. They noted that the boy was small for his age (only 44 inches and 48 pounds on the first day) with a variety of health issues like asthma and a severe astigmatism. However, after only five days they had moved onto the next phase: actually mutating the kid’s genes. Tony’s eyebrows steadily climbed upwards as he read about their procedure.

 

“What the Hell?” Tony broke the silence in the car. “So they created a radioactive spider and had it bite him? What the Hell, I know my specialty isn’t in the genetics field, but how is that even possible!”

 

“You're asking the wrong guy,” Fury grunted, turning the car onto a gravel road. “I didn’t understand half the shit in the medical part of that record.”

 

“Wonderful,” Tony muttered. He read on and finally got the page that seemed most important for the situation at hand: how Peter was dealing with the trauma of the past month.

 

This section was very obviously written by Peter’s therapist as it focused mostly on the kid’s mental state. _Child is showcasing a common occurance of selective mutism,_ the genius read with growing apprehension. _Because of his enhanced senses, all light and sound around him are “too loud,” meaning that great care should be taken in order to not cause the boy further pain. Along with this, child has displayed severe night terrors, causing him to remain awake in spite of the clear exhaustion in his body._

 

_Triggers noted so far: white lab coats, surgical masks, the smell of bleach, and moving too quickly/loudly. Because of the severe starvation the child faced while in captivity, his stomach has shrunk and he has trouble eating normally. Extra fluids and nutrients should be given to him by IV as his enhanced metabolism does require more nutrients than average. With a more stable environment it is possible that the child could come terms with the PTSD he is facing, along with any other issues. Further talks are needed with Agent Fury and other members of the counsel._

 

As Tony closed the tablet and practically threw it to the back seating area he once again asked himself how the Hell he was supposed to help this kid. _Not just any kid_ , his mind chimed in. _He’s your son, can’t forget about that! Howard’s probably laughing in his grave over what a complete failure you’re going to be_ _as a father_.

 

Tony couldn’t help but grimace at that thought. One of his biggest fears was still the thought that he would one day end up like Howard: bitter, drunk, alone, and not giving a damn about the people around him. And as Fury parked the car inside of an abandoned looking building Tony made himself a promise right then and there: He would make sure that Peter always understood that he was worth something, unlike how Howard had made Tony feel when he was a young child. Tony’s son deserved the world after everything he had been through, and Tony would make sure to give it to him.

 

“Gotta admit, this is a pretty neat place,” Tony said as he took in the location. After getting out of the car Fury had motioned him to a nondescript door within what appeared to be an abandoned mill factory. However, it was obviously more than what it seemed because after Fury had put his hand against the wall ( _Biometric scanner?_ Tony wondered, curious despite the situation) the door slid opened, revealing a sleek elevator.

 

The elevator had taken them to what Tony assumed to be a fully functioning and modern underground SHIELD base. There weren’t as many agents like there usually were in the DC headquarters, but there were more than what Tony had expected to find here. A few looked up as Fury and Tony passed through the corridors, but the majority just continued on with their assignments.

 

“This is one of our bases that’s more… off the books,” Fury told Tony as he led him through the halls of the base. “The only ones who work here are the ones I have personally vetted.”

 

Tony nodded in approval. “Smart move. How many people know about my k- about the kid,” He stuttered out.

 

Fury didn’t comment on what he almost said, however, instead answering, “Just me, Romanoff, two more highly trusted agents of mine, and three doctors who have helped to treat the boy.” Fury paused before continuing in a quieter voice, “And of those who who know about your… relation to the child, only I, Romanoff, and Peter’s doctor-therapist know the truth.”

 

“That’s good,” Tony breathed, relieved. He wanted to keep the news of his newfound son from as many people as possible. The kid was already in danger from HYDRA, Tony didn’t want to add his own personal enemies into the mix, enemies that would love an easier target to take out the “Invincible” Iron Man as the press had dubbed him.

 

“I assumed you wanted to keep Peter’s existence as much of a secret as possible,” Fury remarked as they finally arrived to what appeared to be a medical wing.

 

“Yeah, I don’t need the press or anyone else hounding this kid just because he’s related to me,” Tony sighed. That was always the downside to his fame and fortune- how the media and public would scrutinize his every move, just waiting for him to stumble and fall.

 

Fury held up a hand to stop Tony in front of a pair of wooden doors. “I know that you are eager to meet Peter, but it’s probably best if you see Dr. Helames first, just so you know what to expect with Peter and what not to say.”

 

Tony slowly nodded. “Whatever you say.”

 

Fury knocked on the door and opened them once he heard a female voice call out a cheerful “Come in!” Tony walked in behind Fury and noticed an older woman sitting behind a simple desk doing paperwork. She looked up as Fury closed the door.

 

“Nick,” She smiled, getting up to pull him into a hug. “Wasn’t expecting to see you so quickly!”

 

“I did tell you I work fast,” Fury responded with a genuine smile after returning the hug. He lifted a hand and motioned towards Tony. “Celida, you obviously know who he is.”

 

The doctor chuckled as she reached to give a handshake to Tony. “Yes yes, Tony Stark. I wish we could be meeting in better circumstances, but my name is Dr. Celida Helames.”

 

“Pleasure to meet you,” Tony said, giving her a professional smile.

 

“I’m assuming you’ve brought him here to meet Peter,” Dr. Helames told Fury as she went back to sit behind her desk. Both Fury and Tony took seats across from her.

 

“Yes I told him about their relationship,” Fury commented as he glanced over at Tony. “He wanted to meet the child as soon as possible.”

 

“Is this true,” Dr. Helames asked Tony seriously, one eyebrow raised behind thick glasses. “He’s not forcing you to do this, correct?”

 

“No,” Tony answered firmly, a little surprised at how quickly his response came out. “I’m here out of my own free will, Fury told me that this kid is my son but I want to meet him regardless of the fact.”

 

Dr. Helames’s face softened as she smiled at Tony. “Good. I just wanted to make sure that you know what you’re getting yourself into because you won’t be able to back out later on. It would just be cruel for little Peter.”

 

“Actually I have no clue what I’m doing,” Tony admitted as he leaned back against his chair. “But this kid is my son, and I’m not just going to abandon him like he’s nothing. He needs help, and while my life isn’t exactly going great right now I do want to help Peter.”

 

Dr. Helames blew out a soft breath as she took off her glasses to clean them with the end of her cardigan. “I’m truly glad to hear that, Mr. Stark. Because I’m not going to sugar coat it, Peter is not in a good spot right now. He might be physically healing but mentally is a whole other story. Did you read his file yet?”

“I did,” Tony confirmed.

 

“Then you know some things but not everything,” Dr. Helames announced, putting on her glasses to pin Tony down with a serious stare. “The child currently refuses to speak at all. When he was first rescued he didn’t even communicate at all, we were actually concerned if he had a brain injury or that he was deaf. But over the past couple of days he has started to communicate in small ways, like pointing a toy he wants or if he’s tired. It’s not uncommon for a child to become mute after a traumatic experience, but it is concerning on how withdrawn he is.

“I wish I could say otherwise but it’s still very much touch and go with him. We’ve done what we can for him but we can tell he is not fully comfortable here. The poor thing probably associates medical areas with where he was tortured and experimented on. It also doesn’t help that he is still dealing with the physical consequences of his DNA being mutated on top of his mental trauma.”

 

Tony blew out a shaky breath as he stared at the opposite wall. When he turned back to look at the doctor she had a look of sympathy on her face. “I’m not trying to scare you away, Mr. Stark, believe me. I just want you to know about the hard road of recovery that Peter will be facing. It won’t be easy, at times it will be immensely frustrating and distressing. But Peter does need the support of someone, and you are his only blood relative left. You need to understand that you must be in for this for the long haul.”

 

The room descended into silence as Tony stared at the floor in thought. Tony wasn’t exactly surprised that a part of him began to suggest that he just get up and walk away from this whole situation. He had never known he had a child before, and he didn’t necessarily need one in his life now. Of course Tony would make sure the child was taken care off and landed in a safe home. Tony could just watch the boy grow up from afar, away from the terrible influence that was his father.

 

But a much larger side of Tony blanched at the thought of doing that. He had promised before leaving his Malibu home that he would be there for his son, unlike how his own father had never been there for him as a child. And, as Tony glared at the floor, he realized with growing shock that a big part of himself actually _wanted_ to be father. He wanted to have a child to guide and care for, he wanted to come home to a little one that he had to protect and spoil rotten. He wanted to give his son the childhood he had never received. With that in mind he looked at Dr. Helames in the eyes with newfound determination.

 

“Trust me, doc, I completely understand. I don’t care if it takes him 20 years to heal from this, I want to be there for him. I want to be there for my son.”

 

Dr. Helames smiled a wide and bright smile as she stared softly at Tony. She nodded her head as she got up, gesturing for Tony to follow. “Good answer, now come along: it’s time to meet your son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear Peter will be heavily featured in the next chapter! In fact he and Tony will begin to form their adorable bond, which I personally found fun to write. If you found any spelling/grammar errors please do let me know, I love to improve my writing. If you enjoyed this chapter please leave a comment/give a kudos if you are able to do so! And thanks again for reading this chapter, it means a lot to me <3


	3. First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally meet Peter, and fluff ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again everyone! I'm so glad to see all the positive comments from the last chapter, and all the new kudos sent! It's always wonderful to see when I take a break from studying orgo (aka the bane of my existence, and one of the many reasons why I have trust issues!)
> 
> As promised Peter will now be introduced into the story! It was a lot of fun to write a child character since I've never tried to write one before. I based him a bit off my nephew, along with things I learned in child psychology in order to showcase his mental trumas. But please let me know if he comes across a bit wooden/unrealistic because I do want to improve my writing!
> 
> As always please enjoy the chapter!

It was obvious that SHIELD’s medical wing was not meant for young patients. Tony mentally scoffed when he saw someone had tried to hastily put up colorful posters and pictures on the walls in a sad attempt to make the usually stoic and sleek hallways appear more warm and cozy.

 

It was just Tony and the doctor walking down the corridor to Peter’s room- Fury had left to continue to deal with the aftershocks of finding a still-operating HYDRA base.

 

Dr. Helames slowed down to stop in front of a door at the end of the dead end hallway. “And here we are,” She smiled, and Tony felt grateful that she didn’t comment on his obviously-nervous appearance. “I’m going to go in with you but I’ll step out once Peter feels comfortable enough with you.”

 

“Right,” Tony said, taking a deep breath. Part of him was begging to just bolt and never look back, but Tony locked those feelings up behind steel doors. He refused to be a coward and just abandon his child. He was not Howard Stark.

 

“Just as a reminder, he does have enhanced senses so try to keep your voice low. We had to make his door and walls soundproof because he kept hearing noises from even outside of the base.”

 

Tony didn’t even know what to say towards that so instead he just nodded tightly. Dr. Helames smiled again, this time more understanding, before gently opening the door.

 

Once it was open enough she poked her head inside the room and in a soft voice called out, “Peter? May I come in?” She paused for a moment, obviously waiting for the kid to respond. He must have given a positive reaction because the doctor then asked, “I also brought a friend to visit you, is it ok if he comes in?”

 

This time the kid’s response came out much more hesitant, but the doctor waited patiently. It was obvious that Dr. Helames was trying to allow Peter to have the chance to make choices for himself, which made sense; his captors hadn’t most likely allowed the kid to make any decisions on what was happening to him. Tony mentally noted to give the kid choices for simple things in the future.

 

Tony shifted his weight as he waited for Peter’s decision. If he was being honest with himself he hadn’t even thought there was a chance that the kid would refuse to meet with him today. If Peter decided to send him away right now Tony wouldn’t hold it against him- he clearly remembered how he barely wanted to meet with random people after returning home from his own kidnapping. Regardless, Tony had promised himself he wouldn’t give up on the kid, and if there was one thing Stark men were good at it was keeping their promises.

 

Dr. Helames’s grateful voice brought Tony out of his musings. “Perfect, we’re going to come in then,” She said, opening the door wider to allow herself in. She turned back to look at Tony, who was still rooted in his spot just outside the room. She smiled reassuringly as she gestured with a tip of her head for him to come inside. Before Tony could talk himself out of it he squared his shoulders and joined her inside the room.

 

As much as Tony had been trying to prepare himself for this moment it seemed as if it were all in vein as he still felt his hands tremble and the air leave his lungs in a quick release as soon as he spotted the boy on the bed. The kid was absolutely tiny, smaller than what Tony had been expecting. The boy’s hair was longer than in all the pictures Tony had seen previously, and it curled sweetly near the nape of his head. But what Tony couldn’t help but notice most of all was how bright the kid’s eyes were- and how they were the exact shade of Tony’s own.

 

Peter had his head cocked to the side in obvious confusion and with a hint of fear. He looked quickly between Dr. Helames and Tony, before deciding to settle his gaze on the stranger in front of him. Tony knew the exact moment that Peter seemed to recognize him when he saw the kid’s eyes widen while he sucked in a quick gasp.

 

“Peter, I’d like you to meet a good friend of mine,” Dr. Helames announced but Tony didn’t even spare a glance at her; his gaze was stuck firmly on the little boy in front of him who looked seconds away from bolting. “This is Tony Stark. Tony, this is Peter.”

 

“H-hey kid,” Tony stuttered out, and part of him was embarrassed at how emotional he sounded in front of the doctor. However, a bigger part of him could care less how he sounded because he was finally meeting his son! Maybe it was creepy but Tony couldn’t stop staring at the kid. He drank in every feature of the boy as if he were about to go blind; he tried to memorize every little detail the kid’s face while he silently realized that holy crap! Tony had somehow helped make this beautiful, perfect creature in front of him. The genius was usually proud of the things he created and invented but he could already tell that the title for his best ( _greatest_ ) creation would always belong to the tiny boy in front of him.

 

Tony watched in trepidation as the boy raised a small hand and waved hesitantly. Tony felt a watery smile on his lips as he waved back.

 

“Peter,” Dr. Helames said, snapping the boys attention back to her for a moment. “I have to go check on other patients, but is it ok if Mr. Stark here keeps you company until I come back?”

 

Tony was expecting more hesitation from Peter but was surprised when the kid nodded eagerly, eyes much brighter if that was even possible. Dr. Helames beamed. “Perfect! Then I’ll be back in a few minutes.” And with that she silently exited the room, but not before shooting Tony a small wink. Tony turned back towards the kid when he heard the door click shut behind him.

 

The room lapsed into an awkward silence as the kid nervously fixed his eyes down to his blanketed lap while Tony just continued to gaze at the boy. He saw the kid’s eyes peek up shyly before shooting back down towards his lap when he saw that the man was still staring at him. Tony internally groaned. _Great, not even five full minutes and I’m already scaring my kid. Great job, genius_ , he berated himself.

 

He forced himself to stop staring and instead glanced around the room. With a quirk of his lips he commented, “Not exactly a five star hotel, huh?”

 

His heart almost came to a stop when the kid gave the most delicate giggle he ever heard. Peter looked up to meet Tony’s eyes as he smiled timidly. He pointed a finger towards a chair next to the bed as he stared imploringly at Tony.

 

The billionaire raised an eyebrow as he smiled softly. “Do you want me to sit there?” Peter bobbed his head, clearly glad that the man could easily tell what he wanted. Tony could feel his heart melt as he moved to sit in the chair. “Alright, thanks for the seat, kiddo,”

 

Peter bashfully bowed his head as he fidgeted with his blankets. From the closer angle Tony could observe some of the kid’s finer features. He could see how the kid’s eyelashes were long like his own and how slight freckles dotted his nose and cheeks. There was a light scar on the side of his chin and Tony couldn’t help but wonder if it came from before or after his time with HYDRA.

 

Tony’s eyes drifted to the bedside table at Peter’s other side of the bed and noticed there was a small model Empire State Building made out of Lego blocks. “You build that?” Tony asked, making sure to keep his voice warm and quiet. Peter looked up and nodded, a slight blush staining his cheeks as he continued to stare at his lap. “Wow, it looks really good! I couldn’t have made a better one even if I tried.”

 

It was an obvious lie and Tony internally winced at how forced his exclamation sounded. He wasn’t used to interacting with kids, especially ones as young as Peter, so he didn’t even have a baseline on what to say to the kid. Regardless of how stiff Tony sounded the kid started to uncurl on the bed, turning to face the man next to him. The boy bit his lip and pointed towards a box next to the Lego Empire State Building, looking hopefully up at Tony. The genius melted on the spot.

 

“Do you want me to grab it?” Another shy nod from the kid. “Alright, hold on.” Tony reached across the bed and grabbed the box, handing it over to Peter slowly so he wouldn’t scare the kid. Peter took it and opened the box, showing the contents to the billionaire. Tony saw that the box was filled to the brim with various Lego pieces, blocks, and cars. The boy picked up a little orange sports car and started to spin its wheels as he cocked his head at Tony.

 

“What’re you thinking, kiddo?” Tony asked and immediately wanted to smack himself. The doctor had told him the boy was practically mute after the trauma he had faced, why would he suddenly answer Tony of all people?

 

Peter blinked at the question before his eyes drifted to Tony’s chest. He reached forwards and tried to touch the Arc Reactor. Reacting on instinct Tony flinched away, causing the boy to stiffen and pull his arm backwards, quickly lowering his head and looking as if he were waiting to get hit. Tony’s heart clenched as he regarded the boy in regret. It seemed that Tony was doomed to continue to make stupid mistakes and keep scaring his kid away

 

“Sorry kid, you just… uh surprised me is all,” Tony started. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Can you please look at me again?”

 

Peter gnawed at his lower lip but ultimately peered up at Tony. His previously bright eyes had dulled slightly as started to spin his car’s wheels faster. Tony tried to offer him a soft and comforting smile. “Do you want to see my Arc Reactor?”

 

Peter’s eyes widened but he didn’t offer a nod or shake of his head. Reading the expression on the boy’s face Tony assumed that the kid wanted to see the reactor but didn’t want to admit it in case it made Tony upset. Taking a deep breath Tony decided to lower his shirt so the kid could look at the reactor clearly.

 

Tony tried not to squirm as the boy studied the Arc Reactor in silence. He wasn’t exactly a fan of showing people what had basically kept him alive for the past year (and also what had very nearly killed him), but he swallowed the discomfort in order to make his son (still not freaking used to that) less apprehensive.

 

Peter lifted his eyes to meet Tony’s gaze before he very slowly lifted the hand that wasn’t holding the toy car. The kid cautiously reached to touch the Arc Reactor while still holding Tony’s gaze. It was obvious that Peter was trying to give Tony a chance to move away again if he needed to, and that made the genius’s previously cold heart flutter as he realized how empathetic his son was.

 

Tony allowed Peter to touch the Arc Reactor. He was expecting the child to push hard against it but instead Peter just lightly grazed his finger over the top of it. The kid smiled as he looked over the Arc Reactor before leaning back and away from the billionaire. Tony pulled up his shirt once he was sure the kid didn’t want to continue to study the reactor. Smiling slightly he questioned, “You’re a fan of Iron Man, aren’t you?”

 

Peter grinned widely and motioned to a shelf on the opposite wall. From here Tony could barely make out a child’s version of the Iron Man helmet, which for some reason looked vaguely familiar but Tony wasn’t sure why. Tony couldn’t stop his own grin from forming on his lips when he realized that his son was actually a fan of his alter ego. The idea made Tony feel warm inside.

 

“Well, I guess he is the best hero out there,” Tony teased, causing the kid to giggle again as he continued to play with his toy car on the bed. Tony felt the last of the previous tension uncoil from his stomach as he decided that yes, his kid had the most adorable little giggle out there.

 

“And why are you laughing?” Tony asked in mock offense, making sure it was obvious that he was kidding by widening his smile. Peter looked up at him with starstruck eyes so Tony figured he was doing a good job of it. “You don’t believe I’m the best superhero, kiddo?”

 

Peter rapidly shook his head, giggles growing louder. It was at that moment that Tony knew that he had fallen deeply in love with the boy in front of him, and that without even trying the kid had seamlessly wrapped the billionaire tightly around his finger. If the kid asked for the moon right then and there Tony would have probably called up the head of NASA to ask how to buy the moon just to keep that beautiful smile on his son’s face.

 

Peter’s eyes snapped to the door and before Tony could as if something was wrong he heard a soft knock. A second later Dr. Helames poked her head in the room. “Everything ok in here, boys?”

 

“Yeah,” Tony confirmed, shooting a small smile with Peter that the boy slowly returned. “Everything’s going great, doc, I think me and Petey here are getting along swimmingly.”

 

Peter flushed and and lowered his head, but Tony could see the timid ghost of a smile on that precious little face. God, he was sounding so sappy but Tony didn’t care; he absolutely already adored this kid with his whole heart.

 

“I’m glad to hear that,” Dr. Helames replied truthfully. “But unfortunately it’s time for Peter to take a nap, he’s still healing and the medication we have to give him will make him drowsy.”

 

Peter’s expression completely changed at those words and he turned wide eyes towards Tony. The genius’s chest tightened when he saw the honest distress in those doe-brown eyes, but he knew logically that the kid was still healing so he needed all the rest he could have.

 

Still, Tony reached a cautious hand to lay on Peter’s shoulder. “Don’t look so sad, kiddie, sleeps important. Or, at least I’ve been told that,” Tony gave an exaggerated eye roll, earning a watery giggle from Peter. “How about this: You take a nice nap, and I’ll come visit you again really soon?”

 

A tear slipped from Peter’s eye and Tony, without even thinking about it, reached up to wipe it away. He froze, and was about to apologize until Peter leaned into Tony’s hand against his cheek. The boy pursed his lips and held up a hand, pinky out.

 

Tony blinked and the realized what the kid meant. If possible his chest warmed even more as he asked, “You want me to pinky promise, kid?” Peter nodded and stared at Tony wordlessly. “Fair enough, pinky promises are pretty unbreakable I guess.” Tony moved his hand away from the kids face as he wrapped his pinky around Peter’s much smaller one. The kid beamed up at him and Tony returned the expression. The kid put his little car back into the box and leaned away to put it on the bedside table.

 

Tony quietly stood up and watched as the kid got comfortable on the bed. The kid waved at him again so Tony waved back. “See you later, kiddo, have wonderful dreams.” Peter watched owlishly as Tony went towards the door. The billionaire paused before he turned back to the kid.

 

“I’m really glad I got to meet you, kiddie, and I can’t wait to see you again.” The last thing Tony saw before he closed the door to his son’s room was Peter’s bright eyes.

 

Once the door was fully closed Tony leaned his forehead against the door as he closed his eyes, cementing his son’s precious face in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please do let me know about any grammar/spelling errors, out of characterness that I may have missed, or any other types of errors in the chapter. Also let me know if you enjoyed the chapter with comments or kudos if you are able to, it means a lot to me to know people are actually enjoying my writing. Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you next week!


	4. A Ceiling is Just Another Floor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Peter continues his path towards recovery, Tony has to face the reality of raising an enhanced child on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I decided to post a day early as I'm going to be very busy tomorrow and I would rather post earlier rather than later. I hope you guys don't mind. Thanks to everyone who has commented thus far, along with anyone who has given a kudos or just honestly enjoyed the story.
> 
> I'm so glad to see how much everyone enjoyed the last chapter! As promised there will be more fluff in this chapter with tiny amounts of angst sprinkled throughout it. Please note that once again, there will be mentions of previous abuse/torture that Peter suffered at the hands of HYDRA. However, I did not go overly in detail as I wanted to focus more on Peter's recovery. 
> 
> As someone who has studied child development in the face of trauma (specifically in the 10 and under age group), I've found that children are extremely resilient and will try to act normal in order to appease their parents/guardian figures by burying their truma deep within their minds. While some children deal with their trauma with anger, others will act more numb and choose to play alone or with a trusted adult in order to protect themselves from further harm (or at least this is the thought process in their minds). I decided to have Peter go this route for now as he would want to "be on his best behavior" for Tony, but I do promise that Peter will face his trauma at a later point in the story, and that Tony will help him deal with this trauma. 
> 
> As always I hope you enjoy the chapter!

A full week had come and gone and Tony continued to visit the kid.  _ Your kid, your son _ , his mind corrected and Tony grimaced into his bathroom mirror. While he had finally accepted that there was now a little human out there who shared part of his DNA, he still had trouble sometimes referring to Peter as his son.

 

Regardless of his hesitenace he was honestly trying with Peter. He made sure to visit the boy in his medical room every day, staying as long as he was able to. Tony was sure Pepper was becoming suspicious of where he was going every day but he honestly couldn’t find it within himself to care. All that mattered to him was trying to make up for lost time with Peter. He had even managed to stay the whole of last night with the kid. Tony had rested on a recliner chair that someone had brought in for him to sleep on but Tony barely slept a wink. Instead, he just watched Peter sleep, occasionally playing with his hair when the child would shift on the bed in discomfort. Tony would have never guessed before on how peaceful it was to watch one’s own child just breathe contently.  _ In, out, in, out _ . A constant cycle reminding Tony that this little boy was real and very much alive.

 

Of course, that wasn’t to say it was always easy with Peter. Just as Dr. Helames had said there were moments of frustration, of fear. Sometimes Tony would come to visit the kid only to find him hiding under the bed, refusing to allow a nurse with a needle come near him. The biggest heart attack Tony had had so far had come on the third day of visiting the kid and finding him somewhere completely not normal.

 

* * *

 

 

“Tell me I’m seeing things,” Tony muttered to Dr. Helames, staring with wide eyes at a calm looking Peter. The kid was just sitting there, rolling another one of his toy cars around. It would have been a completely normal scene if Peter hadn’t just been casually sitting cross legged up on the ceiling.

 

“He won’t come down,” the doctor sighed, also staring up at her patient with a a composure that Tony was unsure how she was keeping.

 

“What caused him to go off this time? More needles?” Tony whispered, eyes still trained on his small son who was nonchalantly playing. On the ceiling. Yeah, Tony was not going to get over that anytime soon. Both Tony and the doctor were just outside of the room, watching Peter from the small window on the door.

 

“We wanted to take him for X-rays to check how his right shoulder was healing” Helames answered. “His… kidnappers,” She spit out, obviously trying not to curse, “Had completely torn his humeral head out of its socket. His enhanced healing caused it to heal completely wrong, and we had to dislocate it again during surgery. We just want to double check that there won’t be anymore lasting damage.”

 

“Kid really can’t catch a break,” Tony growled. He absolutely hated hearing about what those assholes had done to his kid. Peter was so innocent, so trusting, that it hurt to think that someone had actually wanted to harm him. 

 

“I was hoping you could coax him to come down,” Dr. Helames admitted. Seeing his confused face she continued, “Peter trusts you. To a certain extent he trusts my team and I as he knows we are trying to help him, but his experiences with the HYDRA scientists have left him incredibly wary of medical personal. But you are different. He knows that you are Iron Man, a hero he looks up to. You’ve spent time with him and played with him, and so he trusts you more than most people he interacts with.”

 

Tony felt a knot form in his throat as he looked at the kid. He was both incredibly humbled that the kid trusted him, but also scared of one day disappointing the boy. Tony didn’t have the best track record of keeping the trust of those around him, but for Peter he would rather die before letting the kid down.

 

Tony cleared his throat, turning to face Dr. Helames. “I’ll see what I can do.” He turned away from the doctor to knock softly on the door. He could see Peter’s face snap to the door in slight anxiety before it melted into happiness when he saw it was Tony through the glass. Tony shot him a smile as he opened the door.

 

“Hey kiddie, I’d ask what’s up but seems you’ve already got the covered,” He teased. He heart practically stopped when Peter got up from his sitting position to stand up, feet still firmly stuck to the ceiling. In his haste to wave at Tony the kid dropped his toy car, which hit the floor. Peter only glanced at it before he cocked his head at Tony. 

 

“Jesus kid,” Tony mumbled, face pale as he watched Peter continue to just defy gravity like it was nothing. “Don’t know if I told you, but I have a very weak heart and it’s not getting better by watching you do… that.” He waved at Peter’s form as he went to stand directly under the kid. “Why don’t you come down, before you give me a heart attack preferably.”   
  


Tony saw the kid bite his lip as glanced worriedly at the door. “Hey, don’t worry,” He started, voice soft as he tried to calm the kid down. “Good ol’ Dr. Helames said she won’t come in just yet, it’s just you and me buddy.” This time Peter bit the tip of his thumb as he stared down at Tony in contemplation. 

 

Before Tony could keep persuading him the kid just suddenly allowed himself to fall, causing Tony to scramble to catch him. Peter actually had the audacity to laugh at the terrified look on the man’s face. “Is this what the start of a stroke feels like?” Tony deadpanned, carrying Peter to his bed. The kid continued to giggle madly as he reached a hand towards his fallen car. Tony rolled his eyes but did reach down to pick it up, handing it over to the boy. “Please never do that again, my poor heart can’t take it, bud.”

 

Peter shrugged carelessly as he played with the wheels of his car. The giggling had slowly tapered off until the boy’s face had become blank again. Tony realized with some reluctance that he would have to bring up the kid’s feelings himself. While Tony was usually uncomfortable with sharing feelings he would make the sacrifice to find out what was bothering his kid.

 

“So kiddo,” Tony began was forced casualness, “Heard you’re giving the doc trouble with going for X-rays today. Is there a specific reason why that is?”

 

Tony of course had grown accustomed to not receiving a verbal response. Dr. Helames had gently reminded him that Peter would talk when he felt comfortable enough to, and that it would be worse if they tried to make him talk before he was ready. So instead Tony had learned to pick up on Peter’s nonverbal cues.

 

Peter worried his lip and without even thinking Tony leaned forwards to gently yank it out from his teeth. “Bud, we talked about this: if you’re nervous don’t hurt yourself, then you’ll end up looking as terrible as me,” He winked at the kid, earning a soft chuckle. 

 

Tony forced himself to be patient as Peter spun the wheels of the car as he looked around quickly. Finally, Peter turned his eyes back to the genius and slowly pointed at a deep scar on his right shoulder before looking down at his lap.

 

Tony frowned in understanding. “Aw bud, do you think they’re going to hurt you again?” Peter started to shrug but then hesitantly nodded. He was still staring down so Tony reached over to lift his head up by his small chin. He tried to give Peter a reassuring smile. “Listen, I wouldn’t ever let them hurt you. I’m Iron Man, remember? And Iron Man’s job is to keep kids like you safe and sound.” 

 

Tony lightly tapped the boy’s button nose, receiving a tiny smile in return. Peter still looked a shade fearful, however, so Tony added, “How about this? I’ll stay with you the whole time while they run those annoying tests, and if you behave for them I’ll help you build whatever you want with your Legos.”

 

Peter’s face morphed into a beaming grin as he practically leapt to give the billionaire a hug. Tony blinked in surprise because holy crap, his kid was actually hugging him. While Tony had always hated physical attention throughout his life ( _ thanks a whole lot, Howard _ , he thought sarcastically), Tony didn’t even hesitate to return the boy’s hug, wrapping Peter up tightly against his chest. 

 

The two stayed liked that for a long time until they both heard a knock on the door. Tony tightened the hug when he felt Peter try to hide against the man. 

 

“Sorry to interrupted,” Dr. Helames started, and she did sound apologetic about breaking up the father-son hug, “But we do need to run that test. Are you ok with that, Peter?”

Tony’s heart clenched when he heard Peter’s soft whimper but nonetheless he felt the boy nod in consent. Tony turned to look at the doctor, making sure to keep Peter in his arms. “He said he’ll behave if I stay with him.”

 

Dr. Helames’s gaze softened considerably as she dipped her head in understanding. “That’s completely fine, we can work with that.” 

 

“Hear that, Petey? I’ll be there the whole time so you don’t have to worry.” He eased the kid on the bed as he ruffled the boy’s hair in comfort. “I won’t them hurt you.” Peter’s wide gaze met Tony’s own eyes and Tony almost wanted to cry because of the honest trust he saw reflected in his kid’s eyes. Tony had to clear his throat to get rid of the sudden lump that had grown in his throat. “I promise you, Peter, I won’t let anyone ever hurt you again.”

  
  


* * *

 

 

Luckily the X-Ray was done quickly, showing that the kid was healing perfectly, and so Tony and Peter spent the remainder of that day playing with Legos and watching movies. The past few days had been some of the best Tony had had in a long time, since at least before Afghanistan. However, Tony knew that they couldn’t last forever.

 

Today marked exactly a week since Tony had met Peter, and it was his last day in SHIELD’s medical ward. He was cleared from all lasting physical injuries, and instead only had his mental ones to contend with. Today was also the day that Tony was bringing the kid home with him, something that made him turn into a nervous wreck.

 

He had never before cared for a child all on his own. Sure this past week he had just spent getting used to and comforting Peter, but Tony had the help of Dr. Helames and the nurses to fall back on when it got overwhelming. After today Tony was officially in charge of taking care of the kid, of making sure that he didn’t get into trouble while also making sure that no more of those HYDRA scum came back to finish the job with the boy.

 

While Peter slept Tony would often slip out of the room to meet up with Fury, wanting to know if there was more intel or threats coming from HYDRA’s end. Fury had assured the billionaire that it seemed only the sect that had taken Peter knew about his existence, but Tony didn’t want to take any chances with his kid’s safety. Fury’s following suggestion made the genius stop short.

  
  


* * *

 

 

“Excuse me, I don’t think I heard you right,” Tony snarked, pacing the conference room he and Fury were in. Fury just sighed in annoyance.

 

“Stark I told you: while I do not believe that anyone else currently in HYDRA who we haven’t captured know about Peter or his abilities, I can’t guarantee that with 100% certainty. But we can’t just keep the kid here, this is a government safe house and is not always in use. The best place for Peter, possibly the safest place, is with you.”

 

“You’re crazy,” Tony scoffed. “Fury you know me, you’ve done research on me. You said so yourself, I’m a selfish, egotistical billionaire who can’t play well with others. How does that inspire confidence in you that I could take care of a kid?”

 

“Because you’ve changed, Tony,” Fury admitted. “I’ve seen you with that boy, you probably won’t admit it out loud but you already love that kid, he has you wrapped around his finger. He can just look at you with those damn puppy eyes of his and you’d be willing to buy him the Lego company in a heartbeat. I’ve never seen you like that with anyone, not with Ms. Potts, Colonel Rhodes, or anyone else in your life. I’m not saying you’ve completely changed, I mean you’re still a giant asshole,” Here Tony snorted but was otherwise silent, letting the director continue his spiel, “But for that kid you actually try. And what did you honestly think was going to happen, that we would keep him here forever while you just visited every once in a while?”

 

“No,” Tony protested, leaning forwards against the desk. “I mean, I’m not exactly sure what I thought would happen, of course I wouldn’t want to leave the kid here indefinitely. I just thought I’d have more... Time I guess.”

 

Fury peered at Tony with his one good eye before his face softened. Or, as much as it was possible for Fury’s face to soften at any given time. “You’re not your father, Tony, you are your own man who yes, has made some mistakes, but that doesn’t make you a bad person. Peter is lucky to have you, we all know you adore that kid with everything you have. Will you continue to make mistakes? Let’s not lie, probably. But it’s how you fix those mistakes that count.”

 

“Never would have guessed you’d be good as a therapist, you might need to think about changing professions,” Tony mouthed off as Fury rolled his eye, but he did have to admit, Fury’s words did offer him some semblance of comfort. Maybe he could actually take care of Peter, be a good dad for him. Speaking of…

 

“He still doesn’t know I’m his father, right?”

 

“We thought it best that you handle that confession,” Fury declared, getting up from his chair to start leaving the room. “Tell him when both he, and you, are ready for it. But Stark, if I were you, I’d tell him soon. It’d probably help his mental state, and his nightmares knowing that he still has biological family.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony mumbled, getting up to follow Fury out the door. “When can I take him home? I guess I gotta start putting together a room for him and all that jazz.”

 

“Talk to Dr. Helames about that, but she’ll probably tell you next Tuesday, just to make sure the kid is fully comfortable. That gives you three days to set a room for the kid, think you can pull that off?”

 

“Have you met me, Fury?” Tony called over his shoulder as he went towards the direction of Peter’s room. “Trust me, my kid is going to have the best room a nine year old could ever dream of having.”

Fury shook his head as he watched Tony round the corner and disappear. “He is definitely going to go overboard.”

  
  


* * *

 

 

And overboard Tony had gone. He personally put together Peter’s room, which he placed next to Tony’s own room. Peter’s room would be big, much bigger than the room he was currently stuck in. With a private, child friendly bathroom, a large ceiling window that had a clear view of the sky, and a balcony that faced the ocean (which Tony had already put a child lock on, ordering JARVIS to make sure the kid wouldn’t be able to open without permission) the room was light and airy, perfect for a little boy who liked to play.

 

From what Tony had gathered his son adored space. It wasn’t a big surprise since the kid absolutely loved that old  _ Star Trek _ show (Tony had been forced to watch different episodes over the course of the past few days, more episodes than he had ever watched in his life), along with various space documentaries and books. Because of this Tony had designed the room to be shades of green, purple, and blue, all giving the appearance of Interstellar clouds and nebulas. He also added accurate constellation stars that glowed in the dark on the ceiling, hoping they would help ward off the kid’s nightmares during the night.

 

Tony spent a hours (or at least the part of the day when he was not with Peter) ordering various Lego sets, toy cars, and other age-appropriate toys he thought the boy would like. He even made sure to buy the kid clothes, which he hoped would fit- Pepper usually helped Tony pick clothes for himself, but Tony didn’t want to share with her about his son’s existence just yet. In fact, he didn’t want to share Peter’s existence with anyone other than Fury, the SHIELD doctors who had taken care of Peter, and JARVIS until the kid was more comfortable with his situation.

 

When the day where Tony would bring Peter home arrived he felt he was as ready as he could be. The kid’s room was set, he placed child locks on anything dangerous, and he locked away or threw out all of his alcohol- something which took great effort from him but he refused to get drunk in front of his small child like Howard used to do.

 

Taking one last look around Peter’s new bedroom to make sure everything was in place, the genius strolled down to the garage, picking out the least flashy car he had. He drove off in a cloud of dust to finally bring his kid home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know if you caught any spelling/grammar mistakes, along with any other errors I may have accidentally made. Please comment or give a kudos if you are able to as they do make me happy and give me more confidence in my writing! Thanks for taking the time to read the chapter, and I'll see you guys next week <3


	5. Chatter & a Mets Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony has another conversation about HYDRA with Fury, and Peter is finally allowed to see his new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm so sorry this chapter is a couple of hours late. I sadly have orgo lab tomorrow and needed to work on my prelab. I hadn't realized so much time had gone by so I rushed to do final edits and to put this chapter out! Thanks so much to everyone who commented and gave a kudos to this story so far, it means the absolute world to me <3
> 
> Someone commented on the last chapter that the chapters seem pretty short, which I'm so sorry about! When I write chapters I tend to focus on a "main scene" that will keep the story moving, and then have the chapter revolve around that focal scene. Because of that I sometimes have issues with deciding when to cut off a chapter. Since this story is done I decided just to combine my original chapters 5 & 6 into one bigger chapter. I hope you find this new length more suitable, but please do let me know if you liked the old lengths more! I don't mind switching back if this new length is too long.
> 
> However, since I did combine these chapters it seems I won't meet the 10 chapter minimum I promised myself. I think what I will do is add another two longer chapters at the end. Kind of spoiler alert but not really, this fic is meant to have a sequel, which I am working on. What I'll do is take the two first chapters of that sequel and add it to this story. 
> 
> Anyways sorry for the long author's note, and please enjoy this (longer!) chapter <3

“Are you sure he’s ready for this?” Tony couldn’t help but ask once again as he and Dr. Helames headed for Peter’s room. 

 

“Yes, Tony,” the doctor responded patiently once more. “We ran all the exams we could on Peter, and nothing abnormal came up.”

 

“Other than his… mutation?” Tony grimaced, still hating to use the word in regard to his kid. It made Peter sound like some science experiment, which he guessed was what  those HYDRA assholes had been going for.

 

Helames nodded. “Yes, other than those symptoms and effects directly resulting from his changed DNA, he is physically healthy.”

 

“And there’s no way to reverse his altered DNA?” Tony pondered, getting out of the elevator and onto Peter’s floor with the doctor.

 

“Unfortunately not,” She started. “The changes are permanent, and even if we had the technology to reverse the alterations, it would most likely result in much worse health effects for Peter. Altering DNA by adding new components is already difficult enough, but to completely erase those new components after his body has already accepted the changes could kill him. On top of that, his altered DNA actually made him healthier, if anything. It completely healed his childhood asthma, and gave him perfect vision once again. Because of his faster healing capabilities and metabolism I predict he’ll be less likely to get sick or hurt.”

 

“Not sure if it was worth the price,” Tony commented darkly.

 

Helames sighed. “No, it was not, but it’s best to at least look at the positives in this case. Peter  _ is _ healthier, and he should remain that way for a long time. The only negative effect we have to keep an eye on is the sensory overloads and his above average nutritional demand.”

 

“What about his whole not talking deal? Is it going to go away on its own or…” Tony trailed off, looking at Dr. Helames seriously.

 

“I’m actually very hopeful that Peter will begin speaking again once he’s settled with you,” She answered with a smile. “He’s already become much more comfortable allowing himself to be touched and to sleep, and once he’s in a much more child friendly environment he might be able to allow himself to stop putting his guard up all the time.”

 

“If Peter does end up talking again around me,” Tony began hopefully, “Should I make a big deal out of it? Like reward him or something?”

 

“Oh, definitely not,” Helames shook her head rapidly. “Pretend to not even blink an eye at it. If he perceives that you noticed he might become uncomfortable again and clam up. If the occasion does arrive just give him more affection than usual without commenting on it, this might make him more comfortable on a subconscious level.”

 

Tony nodded. “Alright, then just gotta roll with it and hope I don’t permanently mess this kid up. No pressure at all.”

 

“Tony.” Dr. Helames stopped the genius by grabbing his shoulder. She was a couple of inches shorter than him so she peered up at him with understanding in her brown eyes. “I know this will not be easy for you, but you should have more faith in yourself. That little boy adores you, even if he does not know that you are his father. He might have previously only looked up to you because of your status as Iron Man, but that’s not the truth anymore. He adores you now because you have been there for him after a terrible experience, sat through every examination with him, and helped him sleep through nightmares. So, if anyone can help him heal it’s you.”

 

“Jeez, what’s with Fury and you and pep talks, do you guys compare notes or something?” Tony scoffed, resuming walking in order to not meet her eyes. 

 

Dr. Helames chuckled. “No, we just meet over coffees on Fridays to decide who needs a firm pep talk every week. Not many know it but that man is one of the biggest gossips I know. Next week we’ll probably work on Agent Barton. Lord knows that man needs a vacation with his family.”   
  


“Who?”

 

Helames hummed noncommittally. “Classified. Oh look, we’re here!”

 

Tony glanced through the glass on the door and saw Peter sitting on the bed, this time in normal clothes that Tony had previously brought him. With jeans, a small red hoodie and converse the kid looked like he belonged in a school rather than in a secret medical wing in the middle of nowhere. Tony’s heart gave a lurch when he saw that the boy was quietly playing with the small spaceship model the two had built the previous day.

 

Before Tony could even knock the kid’s head snapped up to look at the genius. Peter’s face broke into a giant grin as Tony open the door. He came bounding over to Tony, throwing his small arms around the man’s waist and squeezing tightly.

 

“Woah there kiddo, happy to finally be blowing the popsicle stand I see,” He chuckled, quickly ruffling the boy’s hair. Tony couldn’t help but think that Peter probably had the softest hair in the world.

 

Peter beamed up at him as he leaned away, tugging at Tony’s hand to pull him along. The kid pointed at a small backpack that was lying on the bed. Tony noted with some humor that the backpack had a cartoon version of the Iron Man armour on the front with red and gold stars painted all throughout the sides.

 

“I thought it was perfect for him when I saw it in the store,” Dr. Helames admitted with a chuckle.

 

“I’m still not used to seeing my armour merchandised for kids,” Tony shook his heard before smiling at Peter. “Did you say thanks to Dr. Helames.”

 

Peter rapidly nodded as the doctor laugh. “He did, he gave me one of those giant hugs of his. Best thank you I could get.”

 

Peter shly grinned over at Helames before lowering his head, curled bangs covering his eyes as he stared down at the rocket ship model in his hands.

 

“Do you have everything packed, kiddo?” Tony asked, glancing around the room to make sure Peter wasn’t leaving behind one his favored toys or knick knacks that had slowly accumulated in his rooms from the various nurses, doctors, and even field agents over the course of the past week. Tony guessed the boy had already packed his Lego box and cars into the Iron Man backpack that was sitting on the bed.

 

“Before I forget, here’s his file about the last week he’s spent here,” Dr. Helames handed Tony a closed folder that had been sitting on a nearby table. “It has all of the results of his tests and other noteworthy finds. I also wrote down my personal phone number in case if you need me in an emergency.”

 

“Thank you,” Tony said, eyes relieved as he once again realized that he wouldn’t have to do this alone. Of course once he told Rhodey and Pepper about Peter’s existence he would have much more support (or, at least he hoped they would be supportive), but for now it was just him and Peter.  _ I can do this _ .

 

Dr. Helames turned to Peter, kneeling slightly in order to meet his eyes. “Thanks for being such a wonderful patient, Peter. Much better than most of the agents that come around here. If you ever need me just let Mr. Stark know and I’ll come right away.”

 

Peter walked over to stand directly in front of her before lifting his hand up, pinky first. Dr. Helames smiled as she wrapped her own pinky around the boy’s. “Yes, it’s a pinky promise my dear. Now be good for Mr. Stark, and don’t be afraid of letting him know if you need anything.” Peter suddenly threw his arms around her neck as he buried his head into her slightly greying hair. She quickly returned the hug before he leaned back. “Bye Peter, it was wonderful to meet you.

 

She stood up to shake Tony’s hand. “Any more questions you need answered before you two head out?”

 

“No, don’t think so. I only have… um, logistical ones that Fury should probably answer left.” Tony offered the woman a quick but genuine smile. “Thanks, doc, for everything.”

 

“You’re very welcome, Tony. And remember, have more faith in yourself,” She added, eyes twinkling slightly. 

 

“I’ll try, doc,” He promised, picking up Peter’s backpack as he grabbed the kid’s hand to lead him out of the room. Peter was practically skipping as they exited the room, eyes curiously roaming around the new areas he hadn’t had a chance of seeing before. 

 

“Alright kiddie,” Tony announced to catch the boy’s attention. “I just need to talk to one more person and we’ll get out of here.”

  
  


Fury was directly in front of the elevators when the doors slid opened. At his side was Natasha. “Seriously, what’s with you guys and wanting to make a dramatic entrance?” Tony rolled his eyes as Fury stepped aside to allow Tony and Peter to exit the elevator. “Also, hey Natasha, haven’t seen you in a while.”

 

“Tony,” Natasha acknowledged, a hint of a smile on her face. The hint became a full thing as she looked at the small boy at his side. “Hi there, Peter, glad to see you feeling much better.” Peter leaned closer to Tony but hesitantly waved to her.    
  
  


“We just wanted to make sure you didn’t have anymore questions about… our mutual competitor,” Fury stressed, glancing at Peter before raising an eyebrow at the genius.

 

“I do,” He confirmed, tightening his grip on Peter’s hand as the four began to walk to the exit. “But hold on a sec.”

 

Tony slipped on a pair of rose tinted sunglasses as they approached the door. He stopped before the door, kneeling to face Peter. The kid curiously blinked at him. “You haven’t been outside in awhile, buddy, and I know that your eyesight’s a lot more sensitive now than before. I’m just gonna put some special sunglasses on you that I so you don’t get a sensory overload.”

 

Tony pulled a second pair of sunglasses that were smaller from his pocket. He had specially designed these glasses with the kid’s enhanced senses in mind. They were meant to optimize and control the boy’s vision, hopefully minimizing the chances that the kid would get overwhelmed. Tony had also made a pair of noise controlling headphones for the same purpose, but he had left those in his car for now.

 

Peter’s little shoulders sagged in relief as the glasses slipped on him, which made the billionaire realize the kid has already started getting overwhelmed. Tony held back a wince as he tried not to berate himself.  _ Still getting used to this _ .

 

“Now don’t you look handsome,” Tony smirked, ruffling the boy’s curls as Peter beamed up at him. Tony opened the door, wincing slightly at the sun outside but made sure to pay attention to Peter. The kid didn’t flinch at all, just looking around and so Tony figured the glasses were working. Tony led Peter to the car as Fury and Natasha followed them.

 

“Air conditioning’s on, and the door’s unlocked. Just go sit in the passenger seat while I talk to Spy vs. Spy over here,” Tony said, patting Peter on the shoulder. Peter hesitated as he stared up at the billionaire. “I promise, kiddo, I’ll be right there.” Peter bit his lip but walked over to the car. Once Tony was sure the kid was inside he turned to Fury and Natasha.

 

“Ok, I just want to make this quick so the kid doesn’t get even more antsy: HYDRA won’t be a threat anymore, right? Because c’mon, they’ve been around since the 40s but they never get shit done.”

 

Natasha and Fury shared a loaded look with each that had Tony’s stomach in knots. “They won’t be a threat to Peter,” Fury finally said, an indecipherable expression on his face. “From the chatter we heard the main heads didn’t even know the kid’s identity, all they knew was that one of their cells was running some new experiments on an unknown subject. We captured the scientists before they could reveal to the higher ups Peter’s age and identity, along with the fact that the tests were successful. We’ll keep monitoring the chatter but as of now we think Peter is not on their radar.”

 

“You didn’t answer my questions if HYDRA will be a threat in the future overall,” Tony noted, some frustration leaking into his voice.

 

Natasha jumped in, shooting Fury a hard stare. “We’ve noticed significant activity in HYDRA in the last few years. We’re still keeping an eye on it but for now, you don’t need to worry about it.”

 

“But I will one day, won’t I,” Tony asked, eyebrow raised. 

 

“Potentially,” Fury said, glaring at Natasha who merely ignored him.

 

“Just take care of your kid, Stark,” Natasha finally said after a moment of silence. “We’ll let you know if they become a bigger threat.”

 

“You’d better,” Tony scoffed, but he really hoped they would; not only was he worried for the world at large, but his bigger concern now was for his son’s safety.

 

Tony gave both of them a brief goodbye as he walked back to the car. When he got into the driver’s seat he saw that Peter had taken off his sunglasses since the car’s windows were tinted. The boy was worriedly staring at him, eyes shinny with unshed tears. He sighed as he asked, “How much of that did you hear?”

 

Peter shrugged, bowing his head to stare at his lap. Tony sighed again as he carefully reached over to pull the kid into a side hug. “Like I said, kiddo, you don’t have to worry about anything, I’ll take care of you.” He felt the kid nod against his shoulder.

 

Tony allowed the boy to lean back into the chair as he started the car up. Smiling slightly he said, “As soon as we get home why don’t we have a Star Trek marathon and some amazing pizza? I know they’ve been feeding you just healthy, gross hospital food so I’m sure you’ve been missing real food.”

 

Peter laughed and Tony smiled wider. He hit the accelerator causing the boy to whoop in excitement. God he loved his kid’s laugh.

 

* * *

 

 

“And here we are, kid,” Tony announced as he pulled into his mansion’s driveway. He glanced over at Peter to catch his reaction, and couldn’t help but chuckle as he saw the boy’s jaw drop in awe. “Welcome to my not-so-humble abode!”   
  


He parked the car close to the house instead of the garage before killing the ignition. He turned to the kid and teased, “Trust me, it’s much bigger on the inside.” Peter laughed as he caught the easy reference.

Tony made sure to grab Peter’s bag from the back as he led Peter to the front door. “So yeah, this is my house,” Tony started awkward. He had never given a house tour to anyone in his life, usually his bed partners only cared about the direct path to bedroom. He opened the door and allowed Peter to enter. “I usually spend most of my time either in my lab or upstairs in my room, so trust me when I say if the house looks clean it’s because I don’t spend a lot of time in most of these rooms..”

Peter’s eyes flickered around as Tony put down Peter’s bag on a nearby couch. The kid jumped almost a foot in the air when JARVIS’s voice sounded. “Hello sir, welcome back.”

“Easy, J,” Tony scolded as he wrapped an arm around the boy’s shoulder. “Kid here is a little skittish. Why don’t you introduce yourself to him?”   
  


“My apologies, my name is JARVIS, it’s very nice to meet you young sir,” JARVIS greeted. 

 

Peter glanced around nervously as he leaned into Tony for comfort. “Don’t worry, bud, JARVIS is an AI, so he’s not really here. You can wave if you want, he’ll pick it up.” Peter waved as he still glanced around as if expecting someone to suddenly materialize. 

“Hello young master, is there a name I can call you?”

“He doesn’t talk much yet, J,” Tony said as he watched Peter walk around the room. “Just call him Peter.”

 

“Then it is very nice to meet you, Peter,” JARVIS warmly stated, earning a half smile from Peter.

“If you need anything you can just ask JARVIS. Even if you’re bored JARVIS can help you,” Tony informed the boy. “Now, why don’t we see your new room.”

Peter’s brown eyes lit up in excitement as he followed Tony out of the room.

“Just to let you know, kiddo, you're allowed anywhere in the house,” Tony said, wrapping an hand on Peter’s shoulder. “The only places that are off limits are my lab because a lot of dangerous tools and materials are in there, and outside the front door. But you’re allowed in the backyard if you want.”

Tony led the boy to the door closest to his own bedroom and opened the door in a flourish. “And this is your room,” He proclaimed. He allowed Peter to slip away from the arm to let the kid enter the room on his own.

Truth be told Tony was nervous about the kid’s reaction to his new room. Tony had never before put so much effort into designing an area, save for possibly his own lab downstairs. Every other room in the house had been meticulously decorated by some of the best interior designers in the area. But Tony didn’t want anyone else to decorate his son’s room, he wanted to prove to himself that he could actually do this for Peter, without the help of a complete stranger. Yet here he was, still anxious about what Peter’s reaction would be.

Peter was silent as he slowly spun in place, taking in the theme of the room before turning his back to Tony. “So, uh, do you like it?” Tony awkwardly asked when the kid gave no reaction for a long moment. “Kid?”

Peter timidly turned around and Tony saw that there were slight tears brimming at the edges of his eyes. The billionaire’s heart gave a lurch as he rushed to say, “Hey, hey, if you don’t like it we can change it! Don’t cry, kiddo, I’m sorry if I messed up, but we can fix it, I promise, you-”

Tony was cut off as the boy slammed into him, spindly arms wrapping around his torso. He felt the kid rapidly shaking his head. “No? You like it?” He tried to guess.

When he felt the kid start to nod he felt his heart slow down, anxiety starting to slowly melt away. “Oh, that’s good, I’m really glad to hear that but please don’t cry.”

Peter leaned away to rub the tears off of his face, but Tony could see a huge grin on his face. His heart fluttered as he asked once again, wanting to make sure, “So you really like it? Because you don’t have to lie, kid, you won’t hurt my feelings. This is your room, so I want you to like it..”

Peter stared up at up with what Tony realized was complete adoration and  _ wow _ , Tony had never before been at the receiving end of such a gaze. It made a warm feeling of something ( _ Love _ , his mind screamed but Tony ignored it for the time being) bubble up in his chest. Peter tugged on Tony’s hand to catch his attention and to pull him to one of the walls where various Lego models and science-related kits were shelved on. The kid was practically jumping up and down as he hugged Tony’s arm tightly.

Tony chuckled as he put a hand on the boy’s head. “I’m glad you like it, bambino.” Peter ran to the other side of the room to look at his bed (which was a high bunk bed with the bottom bunk emptied to be a desk nook area- Tony had noticed that Peter had an affinity for high places, probably thanks to his web crawling abilities) while Tony blinked in shock. Luckily the kid didn’t notice Tony’s suddenly quiet demeanor as Peter climbed up the ladder and onto the bed.

_ What the Hell _ , he thought, watching Peter kick his feet as he sat on the top bunk.  _ I haven’t spoken Italian since mom died _ .

 

And it was true. At one point in his life Tony spoke Italian fluently and exclusively with Maria Stark, who was a proud Italian woman. She had always wanted her son to be bilingual and had taught Tony the language when he was old enough to pick it up easily. Tony could admit he found Italian beautiful, but he stopped speaking it entirely after his parents’ death years ago. While drunk after the funeral he promised himself that he would never speak the language again.

And yet here he was, more than a decade later and allowing himself to speak it once again to his son.  _ Mom would have wanted her grandson to know Italian _ , Tony reflected with the usual tinge of grief. But watching his kid happily play in his new room Tony decided that maybe he could start bring back Italian into his vocabulary. If anyone deserved to have some connection to Tony’s mother it was Peter.

  
  


Tony let Peter explore his room for a few minutes more  before he continued the tour. He managed to show him where his own bedroom was (“Don’t be afraid to come wake me up if you have a nightmare,” Tony told the boy quietly. Peter flushed but there was a grateful gleam in his eyes as he nodded up at Tony), the backyard area, and even parts of the lab. 

Peter’s eyes absolutely lit up when he was allowed into the lab. Of course, Tony had made sure beforehand that the more dangerous materials and weapons were locked up and away from little curious hands, but he still kept a close eye on the kid as he explored the front portion of the lab. Tony didn’t even know smiles could be that big when he saw Peter’s giant grin at meeting DUM-E, U, and Butterfingers.

 

“Don’t let their innocent acts trick you,” Tony snorted as he patted DUM-E on the side. “These three, especially this one right here, love to mess around with me. One of these days I’m gonna have to send them away for scrap metal.” In retaliation to this comment DUM-E whirled and lightly slapped Tony on the side, making Peter chortle breathlessly. Tony mock-glared at what was possibly his oldest friend as the machine twisted and rolled away.

“Sir,” JARVIS suddenly announced, “The pizzas you ordered have just arrived.”

“Perfect, I was starting to starve over here,” Tony gave an exaggerated groan, earning more laughter from the kid. “C’mon kid, let’s head up and eat, you can pick what you want to watch.”

  
  


“Of all the things,” Tony started after finishing a slice of pizza, “Why did you pick a baseball game?”

Next to him on the couch Peter shrugged as he munched on his pizza, eyes glued to the screen. On the TV was what Peter had picked to watch: A baseball game between the Mets and Dodgers. For once the Mets were winning, though it was a close game. Or, at least that’s what Tony assumed; the billionaire wasn’t a huge fan of sports, preferring to spend his time working in his lab rather than throwing around a ball. But it seemed Peter was a decent enough fan. The kid was paying close attention to the game, jumping and clapping whenever the Mets seemed to do something right. 

The two continued watching the game in mostly silence, with Tony chiming in to make an observation every once in a while. For once Tony actually felt… relaxed. This was the first time in a long time that he was just sitting on his couch to watch mindless TV. Tony could feel the tension in his shoulders melt away as his eyelids became heavier with each blink. Before long Tony had his head leaning against the back of the couch, only half paying attention to the commentary on the screen. He probably would have fallen asleep then and there if what came next didn’t practically make his heart jump into his throat.

“You know, the Mets are my favorite team,” A tiny voice piped up from right next to him. Tony snapped his eyes open and turned to look down at Peter in surprise and joy as he realized that his kid had finally talked again. He almost started celebrate out loud before he remembered what Dr. Helames had told him.  _ Don’t make it a big deal! _

“Oh really?” Tony forced his voice to sound nonchalant even though he was internally beaming.

“Yep!” Peter said, popping the P. “They’re from Queens, just like me.”

“Huh, thought they were from Brooklyn,” Tony admitted, wanting to keep the kid talking. He was slightly afraid that if he didn’t continue the conversation the kid would clam up again and refuse to speak.

“Of course not,” Peter shook his head. Tony noted absentmindedly that the kid’s voice was high and sweet, but had an edge of hoarseness to it because of how long the kid hadn’t spoken. “Mets are from Queens, Yankees from Bronx. Dodgers used to be from Brooklyn.”

“You sure know a lot about baseball,” Tony said, sitting up to face the kid better.

The kid shrugged, face wistful. “Yeah, I’m no good at playing it but my Uncle Ben loves sports.” Peter suddenly frowned, turning away from the TV to glare down at the floor. “Or, he did, I guess.”

_ Oh no _ , Tony thought in panic, watching tears slowly fall down Peter’s face.  _ Shit, what do I do?! _

Tony made a quick decision when the first sob ripped out from Peter’s small chest; with minimal hesitance Tony pulled Peter towards him, tucking the boy’s face against his shoulder. Peter barely reacted as he continued to sob.

“I m-miss them so much,” Peter cried, voice trembling. “Why’d they have to go away!”

“Sh it’s ok, kid,” Tony soothed, running a comforting hand through Peter’s curly locks. “I know it hurts, trust me I know what it feels like, so if you have to cry go ahead and let it out.”

In response Peter’s sobs became louder as he basically climbed onto Tony’s lap. Through the sobs and tears Tony tried his best to offer as much comfort as possible to the kid. Finally, the kid’s cries trailed off into hiccuping gasps and Peter leaned against Tony’s chest, obviously exhausted.

“I’m sorry,” Peter whispered.

Tony startled. “Sorry? For what, kiddie?”

Peter leaned back to look at the man, eyes red and face pale. “Everything. For crying on you, I guess, and making you have to deal with a stupid b-baby like me.”

“Hey.” Tony carefully gripped Pter’s chin, tilting it until Peter was facing him. “Don’t apologize for that, and don’t insult yourself. You’re not stupid, and you didn’t make me do anything. I’m taking care of you because I want to.”

“But why?” Peter asked, eyes filled with an emotion Tony couldn’t quite place. 

_ Because I’m your dad _ , Tony wanted to say, but he knew it wasn’t the best time to reveal that tidbit to the kid. Instead, Tony racked his brain for another suitable explanation. “Because… because you’re a good kid who’s gone through a lot that needs someone to be there for him.”

Peter glanced away, a small frown etched on his lips. Before Tony could ask what was wrong, the kid said, “Still, I’m sorry about crying. And not talking. I just- I couldn’t,  _ they _ didn’t let me talk and they hurt me so much so I couldn’t make myself talk til now because it’s just you and me, but I’ve wanted to talk for days, because you make me feel safe but I just kept remembering  them and-”

“Hey, hey,” Tony interrupted the boy’s babbling. “It’s fine, I get it. I’m not blaming you whatsoever, you needed to do whatever you could to make yourself feel better. That’s not your fault bud, and I would never blame you for that. But I am glad you decided to talk to me, I was starting to get tired of just hearing my own voice.”

Peter giggled slightly as he tilted his head. “But I like your voice, you always say funny stuff.”

“That's not the first time I’ve heard that about me,” Tony rolled his eyes. “Though usually there’s more insults involved.”

“Mr. Stark!” Peter gasped. “They’re meanies then! Cuz you’re super duper smart but you just say funny things sometimes, not all the times!”

 

“Thanks for the defense, kiddo,” Tony teased mildly, ruffling the kid’s hair. “But please, call me Tony.”  _ Who knows, maybe one day you might even call me dad. _

Peter pursed his lips. “I’m not supposed to call grown ups by their first names.”

 

“But I’m letting you. So just call me Tony, ok?”

Peter hesitentanly nodded, a smile growing. “Alright thanks Mr.- um, Tony.”

“Almost,” Tony laughed. “You’ll get it.”

The two lapsed into companionable silence as the announcer on the TV kept calling the game. “Do you know the rules, Tony?”

Tony’s heart lurched at hearing his son call him by his first name. Progress was being made at least,  no matter how small it seemed. “Not really,” Tony admitted.

Peter looked hopeful as he asked, “Can I tell you them? I know a lot of them because I have a really good memory!”

 

Tony smiled fondly down at his kid. “Knock yourself out, kiddo, I’m all ears.”

And for the rest of the game Peter explained every rule and position to the genius, voice quiet at times but at least he kept talking. Tony only partially paid attention to the kid’s explanations, mostly just enjoying hearing his son just  _ talk _ so freely. It made his heart warm as Tony kept affectionately running a hand through Peter’s hair. 

_ Maybe we’ll get through this better than I thought _ , Tony considered, watching as Peter whopped in joy when the batter for the Mets hit a homerun.  _ Maybe he’ll actually accept me like a dad.  _ Tony truly hoped that would be the case but regardless of what Peter decided he knew one thing: Tony would always love this kid with everything he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist adding in Tony speaking Italian lol, it's one of my favorite tropes. Also, in the comics and possibly the MCU Peter is a big Mets fan (he has a Mets pennant and cap in his room, plus he's a Queens boy!). I'm also a big Mets fan so I couldn't resist adding in a Mets game. Today was our home opener at Citi Field so it coincidently worked out (even if we lost against the Nationals, grr). Also, I added in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to everyone's archer. Since this is post-IM2 but pre-Avengers Tony wouldn't know who he is, but I adore Clint and had to at least give him a shoutout.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please do let me know about any grammar/spelling mistakes, along with other general critiques or letting me know if you liked the chapter. Comments and kudos are always accepted, and bring me much joy. Thanks again for reading, and have a wonderful week everyone <3


	6. Nocte Revelatum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some revelations are best found in the dead of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first off let me just apologize for the late posting! This should have been posted last Thursday, but I got pretty sick (spoiler: the flu sucks) and I'm also in the process of applying to nursing school. Basically my week has been very stressful and busy but I'm still so sorry for the slight hiatus.
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who has commented and given kudos, it always lights up my day to know people are enjoying my work.
> 
> I also want to acknowledge the beautiful artwork in this chapter that was created by the talented Eve. She was the artist assigned to me in the big bang, and you can find her on Tumblr under the username eve-valution. SO please go give her some love as she deserves it!
> 
> As always I hope you enjoy the chapter <3

It wasn’t often that Tony slept in his room at a reasonable hour. Unless Pepper was over he was often in the lab into the early hours of the morning, often falling asleep on the small but comfortable couch he had put in the lab for such purposes.

 

But tonight Tony had made the effort to sleep in his own room, and at a decent hour, too. He had put Peter to sleep at promptly 9 PM since that’s what the handbook for first time parents suggested as a bedtime (and yes, Tony had picked up various books on child development and read them all; Tony was always thorough when it came to researching new topics, and he’d be damned if he didn’t put in the same effort for his son). Luckily Peter didn’t put up much of a fuss about his bedtime as the kid was exhausted after his slightly emotional first day with Tony.

 

The kid had kept nodding off as he brushed his teeth, much to Tony’s silent amusement. Once that was done Peter had promptly climbed up to the top of his bunk bed, barely whispering a quiet “night” to the man as he fell asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow. Tony stayed in the room for a moment longer, just staring at Peter’s relaxed face as the kid slept. He had hesitated slightly before leaning up to press a gentle kiss to the top of the boy’s curly head, after which he had headed to his own room to sleep.

 

Tony wasn’t quite sure for how long he managed to sleep. All he knew was that at least his sleep was blissfully free from the dark dreams that had plagued him ever since Afghanistan. But whereas his sleep was peaceful his wakeup was not.

 

“Sir? Sir!” JARVIS’s voice called out within Tony’s room, causing the billionaire to startle awake. Before he could ask what the Hell was wrong he heard high pitched screaming coming from outside of his room. _Peter_ , Tony realized, jumping out of his bed.

 

“What’s happening, JARVIS?” Tony asked, running to the door.

 

“It appears Master Peter is having a night terror,” JARVIS answered, managing to make his mechanical voice sound worried.

 

“Should have guessed that,” Tony mumbled to himself as he bounded his way over to Peter’s room.

 

Tony opened the door to the kid’s room and his heart almost hammered out of his chest when he saw that the boy was in a fetal position in one of the corners of the freaking ceiling, hands covering his ears as he continued to scream.

 

“Peter!” Tony gasped, running to stand directly under the kid. “Buddy, calm down, what’s wrong?!”

 

But Peter did not answer with words, instead his screams turned into fitful sobs as he clenched his tiny hands tighter around his ears. Tony cursed himself for letting the kid have such high ceilings in his room, there was no way the billionaire could reach him normally.

 

Tony had absolutely no idea what to do. He wanted to comfort the boy and to calm him down, but he couldn’t do it from the floor. However, it looked like Peter was refusing to climb down from the ceiling. Tony thought hard before he came up with a plan.

 

“J, send me a pair of Iron Man boots,” Tony ordered. JARVIS did not respond but a moment later Tony could hear the obvious sound of the thrusters turning onto their lowest setting. Tony turned to watch as the boots entered the room, opening up and closing around Tony’s own feet. Tony carefully maneuvered his way to reach Peter’s position.

 

“Shhh, it’s ok, kiddo,” Tony tried to console him, gently easing the kid off the ceiling and into his waiting arms. Peter continued to sob but at least he curled up in Tony’s arm. “It’s ok, I’ve got you.”

 

Tony disengaged the boots and left them in Peter’s room as he carried the boy over to his own bedroom. He continued to try to coax the kid into calming down as he reached his bedroom door. By the time Tony sat on his bed Peter’s sobs and tapered off into whimpers and silent tears.

 

“It’s alright, kid, I’m here,” Tony soothed, gently rocking the boy. Tony continued to this for another couple of minutes as Peter cried as buried his head into Tony’s shoulder. Finally the boy was mostly silent, except for the occasional hiccuping whimper that Tony comforted him through.

 

Tony wasn’t sure what to do other than to continue doing what he was doing. On one hand he wanted to know what had set Peter off, but on another he was afraid of bringing it up just in case it triggered the kid into breaking out into more sobs. Luckily it seemed that the kid was far more willing to talk than what Tony had been giving him credit for.

 

“It was a bed dream,” Peter whispered as he turned as his face away from the man’s shoulder. “I was… _there_ again.”

 

“Do you mean with the bad men?” Tony couldn’t help but wonder. Peter flinched but nodded.

 

“Y-yeah. I was back in th-that room, and they were _hurting_ me. They kept me tied up on a w-weird bed and they kept using that, um... that s-special knife that doctors in hospitals have, and they used to cut me everywhere, and it hurt so much Tony!” Peter cried out, face contorting as he seemed to remember the pain. Tony’s chest clenched as he was once again forced to realize that someone had basically _tortured_ and used his kid like a live test subject.

 

“Hey, shhh it’s ok, no one’s hurting you now,” Tony stroked a gentle hair through Peter’s hair, trying to also calm himself down. “I’m here, I promised that I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

 

“B-but what if they’re still out there?” Peter whimpered staring up at the genius with wide eyes. “What if they try to t-take me again and hurt me all over.”

 

“I would never let that happen,” Tony swore, chest ablaze at the thought of anyone hurting Peter again. Tony would rather die than watch this perfect, sweet kid be hurt even further.

 

Peter bit his lip as he leaned his head against Tony’s chest. Tony tightened his grip as he moved upwards on the bed until he was leaning against the headboard. Peter was still firmly in his arms but the kid seemed to be content where he was.

 

“I heard Mr. Nick tell you that the bad men are still out there,” Peter accused, voice trembling.

 

“But didn’t you also hear the part where they don’t know your name, and that the ones who specifically hurt you are locked away in a super secret jail?” Tony pointed out.

 

“I guess,” Peter whispered, frowning slightly.

 

“Then kiddo,” Tony lifted Peter’s head so his eyes would meet his own. “You shouldn’t be worried over this. I swear on everything I own, on all my tech and even my brain, that I would rather die than let anyone hurt you again. As long as I’m around you’re safe.”

 

Peter hummed in acknowledgement, eyes drifting away for a second before he snapped them back to Tony’s eyes. “It’s because you’re my real dad, right.”

 

Tony’s heart ground to a stop as he stared down at the boy. “W-what?”

 

Peter pulled his face away from Tony’s grip as he got off the man’s lap. He sat down directly next to Tony, knees on the mattress as he sat back on his feet. Peter cocked his face as he repeated, “It’s because you’re my real dad, right?”

 

Tony could scarcely breathe as he once again heard those words tumble out of Peter’s mouth. Tony opened his own mouth to reply, snapped it shut when he realized he had no idea what to say, before opening it again to softly demand, “Why do you say that?”

 

Peter blinked at him as if he were asking a very obvious questions. “Because I know you’re my dad, duh.”

 

“Alright, then how do you know that?” Tony pleaded, sitting up higher against the backboard.

 

“Aunt May and Uncle Ben were the ones who told me the dad I always thought was my dad wasn’t really my real dad,” Peter admitted quietly. “I don’t really remember him much, but I had to take a picture of my parents to school once and I saw that me and him didn’t look alike at all. So, I asked Aunt May and Ben, and they told me that he was my stepdad I guess. But they promised they didn’t know who my real dad was, though, only my mom knew that. I didn’t know it was you until I was still in the hospital.”

 

“... And how’d you guess that?” Tony hoarsely wondered aloud. He honestly felt as if he were seconds away from a heart attack at the rate this kid kept going at.

 

Peter smiled as he proudly said, “I didn’t guess! Before you came to visit me, one of the nice nurses was playing with me in the room. Another nurse needed her, so she had to leave for a second. But she left a folder with a lot of papers inside it. I couldn’t understand most of it, but one of the paper’s said your name and the word ‘biological’ right next to it. I learned that word in school, so I figured you had to be my real dad.”

 

Peter frowned suddenly as he looked away from Tony. “At first I didn’t believe it, cuz you know, you’re Tony Stark! You’re super duper smart, and you’re a superhero too! But then you came to visit me, and the only reason I could think of on why you’d come to see a nobody like me is if were really related.”

 

“Don’t call yourself a nobody,” Tony automatically ordered. He hated when the kid put himself down like that. But mostly Tony was still in shock that the kid had known for so long and hadn’t mentioned it to anyone.

 

“But I am one,” Peter sighed sadly, tears glistening in his eyes. “I mean, you didn’t even wanna tell me that you were my real dad! You never came to visit me when I lived with Auntie May and Uncle Ben in Queens, and you never even called!”

 

“Peter,” Tony groaned out, suddenly feeling so tired. He took a deep breath before meeting his son’s shinny, matching eyes. “There’s a lot of reasons on why I didn’t tell you, but believe me when I say that none of them have to do with you. You’re a perfect kid, honest. _I’m_ the issue, kiddo.”

 

Peter’s eyebrows knit together. “What do you mean? You’re Iron Man, you’re not an issue.”

 

Tony chuckled mirthlessly. “Just because I’m Iron Man doesn’t mean I’m perfect. Trust me, I am so far from perfect, kiddie. I make so many mistakes, and sometimes they hurt the people I care about the most. I mean, I didn’t even know you were my son until they called me in to visit you! Peter I swear if I knew you were my kid from the start I would have been there for you everyday. But I promise you, I was going to tell you that I’m your… dad. I just wanted it to be a special moment.”

 

Peter looked stricken as he cried out, “Oh no, did I ruin the surprised?”

 

Tony chuckled slightly as he gently brought Peter into a hug. “Nah, you can’t ruin anything, kiddie, you’re too good. I’m glad you told me you know, I was going crazy keeping it a secret. I was probably going to tell you soon anyways.”

 

Peter leaned heavily into Tony’s chest as he hummed in response. “I believe you. But do you promise that you don’t hate the fact that you’re my real dad?”

 

“I promise on everything,” Tony breathed, kissing the top of Peter’s head again. “Finding out about you was the best moment of my life.”

 

“Even if you have to deal with all the bad times now?” Peter whispered.

 

“Even through that,” Tony swore. “You’re the best gift I could have ever gotten, I’m glad you’re my kid.”

 

Tony waited for a response from Peter but the kid was silent. Tony looked down and his face softened into a smile when he realized that the kid had fallen asleep on Tony’s chest, right on top of the Arc Reactor. For once Tony didn’t feel claustrophobic that someone was touching his reactor.

 

“I guess we’ll talk more in the morning,” Tony murmured, getting more comfortable on the bed while making sure that Peter’s small head stayed on his chest. He reached for a blanket and covered himself and his son up.

 

Tony continued to card a hand through Peter’s soft hair as he felt the kid breath slightly. “I love you kiddo,” Tony whispered into the quiet of the room before he too fell asleep.

 

 

 

* * *

 

Tony’s next wake-up was much more gentle than the previous one. He awoke in a warm haze, soft sunlight lighting up the room as he languidly stretched. Glancing to his side he couldn’t help but smile at seeing Peter’s peaceful face as the boy thankfully continued to sleep.

 

“Time, J?” Tony whispered, getting up from the bed.

 

“9:40AM, sir,” JARVIS answered just as quietly. Tony hummed slightly in acknowledgement as he fixed the blankets around Peter before exiting the room. He first went to the en-suite bathroom to take care of his morning routine before exiting to the hallway.

 

“Let me know if he wakes up, I need some coffee,” Tony said as he took the stairs down to the kitchen.

 

“Of course,” JARVIS responded. “May I also take the moment to remind you that Ms. Potts is set to arrive today.”

 

Tony blinked as he arrived to his kitchen, swearing when he realized what day it was. “Dammit, I completely forgot!”

 

For the past two and a half weeks Pepper had been visiting the Stark Industry branches throughout Asia. While Tony missed her dearly, he understood that she needed to get the company back on track after the fiasco that was the Expo. Thanks to Pepper’s determined attitude and sharp wit she was able to minimize the fallout Stark Industries had faced from the public (and, more pressingly, the board) once the disaster had ended.

 

Unfortunately, this had meant that she needed to work even harder in the following weeks. Between board meetings, public talks, building visits, and checking over documents, Pepper barely time to even take care of herself, much less check in on Tony. The last time the two had spoken was the morning when Fury had visited him.

 

Tony couldn’t help but grimace as he thought about what he would tell Pepper. Since he’d been so busy taking care of Peter and wrapping his head around the fact that he was a dad, he hadn’t had a chance to spare a thought of what Pepper would say or how she would react.

 

“She’s going to kill me,” he groaned as he took his favored mug from the cupboard.

 

“Based on prior interactions and events, I do believe Ms. Potts will be upset, especially since you had promised her that you would be much more open about issues pertaining to your life with her,” JARVIS noted.

 

“Thanks a lot, J,” Tony sarcastically muttered as he got the coffee maker running.

 

“However, I do not believe Ms. Potts will remain angry with you. If you explain the situation to her she will be much more willing to forgive you and help you with taking care of Master Peter.”

 

Tony leaned against the counter as he waited for his coffee to be made, a pensive look on his face. “You think so? Because I know she and I decided to stay together even after all the crap that happened with Hammer, but she didn’t sign up to take care of a kid. Hell, I don’t even really know if she likes kids, much less wants one around.”

 

“And what happens if she does not want a child?” JARVIS gently asked.

 

Tony closed his eyes but did not hesitate to answer. “Then I’d let her go. I love her, more than almost anyone else in my whole entire crazy life, but Peter’s my son and I won’t abandon him for the sake of a relationship.”

 

JARVIS was quiet as Tony poured the coffee into his mug. He finally began to answer as Tony poured a copious amount of milk into his coffee. “If it is any comfort to you I do believe that Ms. Potts will not give up on your relationship just because of Master Peter’s existence. My observations show that Ms. Potts does not actively dislike children, and she has remained at your side even throughout the more recent chaos your life has provided thus far.”

 

“Gee, thanks J,” Tony muttered, but he couldn’t help but smile. Trust his loyal AI to make him feel better.

 

“Just speak to her clearly, sir. Ms. Potts is always willing to at least hear you out, and she has never shown a hint of bitterness from learning more about your sexually illicit past.”

 

Before Tony could snark back to that reply he heard his front door open. He could feel his heart practically stop in his chest as he heard Pepper call out, “Tony? Are you up yet?” Tony put down his coffee as he met her halfway in the living room.

 

Even tired and jetlagged as she was Tony couldn’t help but admire her beauty. Her strawberry blond hair was up in a messy bun, and she was in comfortable leggings and an oversized sweater, which he noted with a pang was one of his own that she had taken before leaving for Asia.

 

Pepper smiled as she put down her bag to give Tony a chaste but loving kiss. “Wow, actually awake at a normal time? Or did you never fall asleep at all last night.”

 

“Ha ha,” Tony grinned as he wrapped his arms around Pepper’s waist. “I’ll have you know that I actually fell asleep at what you call a “healthy” hour, just ask J.”

 

“JARVIS?” Pepper asked, a teasing smile still etched on her face as she looked up at the ceiling.

 

“Sir is actually telling the truth. I’m sure his unusual sleeping habits are a sign of an upcoming apocalypse.”

 

“Awesome, my AI and girlfriend are ganging up on me,” Tony groaned. “I should have never introduced the two of you.”

 

“Oh, you love us,” Pepper rolled her eyes, going back to pick up her bag. She paused as she set the strap on the shoulder, shooting a seductive glance at Tony that had his heart racing.

 

“I’m going to go leave this in your room, why don’t you come join me and show me how much you’ve missed me,” Pepper practically purred.

 

For all of Tony’s past as a former playboy he couldn’t help but swallow as he took in Pepper’s gaze and smile. He wanted to so badly tease her back, but he knew that he had to tell her the truth.

 

“Wait Pep, there’s something… uh, something we should talk about.”

 

Pepper’s smile slipped off her face as she took in Tony’s serious face. She dropped her bag as she sat on the couch near him, pulling his arm down until he sat down next to her.

 

“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Is everything ok?”

 

Tony allowed her to grip his hand as she stared at him with worry. “Fury came to visit me the other day. He gave me some… life-changing news.”

 

“The palladium poisoning?” Pepper whispered, eyes widening.

 

“No, no,” Tony soothed as he realized how he made it sound. “I’m not dying or anything, I promise.”

 

“Then what is it?” Pepper leaned back to look at Tony closely.

 

Tony forced himself to breathe as he met Pepper’s eyes. She deserved to know the truth, even if it meant potentially losing her. “As you probably remember I wasn’t exactly the monogamous type before Afghanistan.”

 

Pepper’s eyebrows knit together but she thankfully did not look angry. “Yes, I remember.”

 

“Well, even in my most drunk or drugged out state I always made sure to use… protection,” Tony said, finally looking away from Pepper. “But as science always likes to remind us, nothing is ever certain.”

 

“Tony, what are you saying?” Pepper prodded, tone tight but neutral.

 

Before Tony could answer her a familiar tiny voice sounded out from the top of the stairs. “Mr. Stark? Are you down there?”

 

Both adults’ eyes snapped to the staircase as Peter made his way down, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. Tony glanced at Pepper and saw her staring at Peter in realization. Peter stared back at Pepper, eyes shining in confusion before turning to look at Tony.

 

Tony coughed slightly before breaking up the awkward silence that had filled the room. “Peter buddy, this is my girlfriend Pepper Potts. Pep, this is Peter, he’s my-”

 

“Son,” Pepper finished for him, eyes never leaving Peter’s little face. She finally looked back at Tony, expression closed off but at least she wasn’t yelling at him in betrayal. “Guess there’s a lot for us to discuss then?”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please do let me know if you catch any spelling/grammar errors, or any errors in general. I also want to note that this is my first time writing Pepper, and I figure that since is pre-Avengers and IM3 her relationship with Tony is a bit more flirty and light. But if it's really OOC please let me know.
> 
> Comment or give a kudos if you are able to, and thanks again for all your support and love <3

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will be up next week. Let me know if you caught any errors, whether they're grammar or anything else. I hope you enjoyed it, and please comment or give a kudos if you're able to. Hopefully I'll see you guys next week :)


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